Having already a succesful run in a plethora of festivals in Europe and the US including Fantasporto and Slamdance, “Visitors” is another work by Kenichi Ugana that highlights his command of the medium, particularly in genre paths.
“Visitors” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Haruka, Nana, and Takanori visit the house of Sota, a band member who has not given any sign of life for quite some time. The house looks particularly run-down with newspapers covering every window, while Sota seems even more strange, looking a mess and acting like nothing is going on. As he calmly offers them tea, one of the girls steps into a green goo and transforms into a head-spinning, bloodthirsty demon.
Kenichi Ugana “plays” with two aspects. The first one focuses on hikikomori, with Sota acting like an archetypical one, in a fashion, though, that is the main source of comedy in the short, as his disconnect from what is happening around him is actually hilarious, particularly in way Ugana uses his presence for jump-scares. The second is the survival horror one, with the director building the terror gradually, first solely through sound, and then through both sound and image, as the movie takes a rather bloody, but also absurd and still funny turn.
In that fashion, the job done in the technical aspect of the movie is top notch, with Yusuke Mogi's sound, Masashi Komino's editing, and most of all, Miyuki Wakamatsu's VFX, resulting in a series of truly memorable, rather grotesque scenes, with the rotating head, the head on the leg, the chainsaw, and the repeated hits almost every character involved takes, being a true joy to watch.
Lastly, the finale cements the whole approach Ugana implemented here in the best fashion, with Shiho ending the movie in the most fitting way.
“Visitors” is an excellent horror short, one of the best we have seen during the last few years, and yet another testament to Ugana's directorial abilities.
